Ecsite-uk
Minutes of the 2007 AGM
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Location: The BA Festival of Science, York
Date: 13 September 2007
1 Opening of the meeting
Linda Conlon, Chair of Ecsite-uk, welcomed all Ecsite-uk members and thanked the BA and York University for their hospitality. Prodir Ltd was thanked for their sponsorship of this year’s AGM.
The AGM was minuted by Dr Penny Fidler (Ecsite-uk Director).
2 Apologies
A list of attendees and apologies can be found at the end of these minutes. Committee members sending apologies were:
- Roland Jackson, the BA
- Heather Mayfield, Science Museum, London
- Kelvin Boot, National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth
All other Committee members were present, together with about 20 other members.
3 Minutes of the 2006 AGM
The Minutes of the 2006 AGM in Norwich were approved.
4 The Chair’s report by Linda Conlon
Linda Conlon began by summarising that two events had dominated the year:
- The appointment of the new Director. Welcome to Dr Penny Fidler
- The House of Commons Inquiry
The House of Commons Inquiry
Linda explained that Ecsite-uk has been working hard over a long period first through Colin Johnson, then through John Durant to prove that science centres are worth supporting and are doing an excellent and cost-effective job. She stressed that Ecsite UK has been pursuing a concentrated and concerted effort over a considerable time in terms of meeting with civil servants, lobbying, and more general profile raising.
In summary:
- The outcome of the inquiry is expected (optimistically) in October
- The spirit was friendly and warm and approving of what we already do.
- The Ministers were newly appointed to the posts.
- The support from the Wellcome Trust was very powerful and positive for us.
- Linda wrote immediately to the Minister and is awaiting a response regarding a future meeting.
- Civil servants are now extremely keen to see how our outreach project (SCEAG) progresses, as an example of what we can do.
- A future major challenge for Ecsite-uk is to get consistent data collection so we can prove in a robust way that what we are doing works.
The sustainability of projects
Linda reported that it is very encouraging that many of our projects take on a life of their own once the actual funded project has finished – for example the dialogue work, facilitation training and Meet the Scientist are becoming part of other projects. It is clear we learn from these projects, collaborate, disseminate and adhere to best practice.
Linda encouraged members to look at the Ecsite-uk website which has a whole host of information about all the Ecsite-uk projects.
Presentation by Dr Penny Fidler, the new Director
Penny had been in post for 9 days. She began by thanking both Rosalind Mist and Louise Webb for their warm welcome and is looking forward to working with the Ecsite-uk team, committee and members.
Penny introduced herself and talked a little about her background within science centres and her work as a neuroscientist prior to this.
She reported on the SCEAG meeting on Tuesday 13 September which was attended by representatives from both the DIUS and DCSF and chaired by Dr Rosalind Mist. This meeting went extremely well, revealing the strong partnerships that have built up between member science centres, in particular between smaller and larger centres.
Penny also talked of the Inside DNA project being developed by At-Bristol on behalf of Ecsite-uk. This is funded by The Wellcome Trust with support from The Sanger Institute. It launches on 29 November and eight Ecsite-uk centres will have the opportunity of hosting the Exhibition as part of the project.
She went on to say “we’re poised at an exciting time in science and science engagement with some major global challenges to address in the immediate future, such as reducing carbon emissions, securing water supplies and ensuring the health and vitality of our ageing population. We need to inspire a new cohort of science specialists as well as increasing the scientific literacy of the population and creating opportunities for dialogue within society relating to all matters of science.
The UK network of science centres represents an extraordinary resource for the future of science in this country, and we are perfectly placed to deliver a number of strategic objectives on behalf of the government and other partners”
She closed by saying that Ecsite-uk is about people and partnerships and talked of her desire to work closely with all the Ecsite-uk members, as well as other national networks such as the Science Learning Centres, The Beacons for Public Engagement, STEMNET and a host of other partners.
5 Treasurer’s report
Peter Trevitt reported finances for 2006.
He began by thanking the BA who host the Ecsite-uk finances and submit them to The Charity Commission. This is an important contribution to Ecsite-uk administrative life and we particularly thank John Gagg for all his work.
Thanks to Dr Ros Mist and Dr Louise Webb for their tremendous work, including their attention to detail in the accounting of projects, their effort, extra hours and dedication.
2006 (calendar year)
- Core made £3K surplus (against budgeted loss of £30K).
- Projects contributed £50-60K.
- Overall, £96K surplus against a budgeted value of £23K.
- Adding to the reserves, this is a very healthy situation.
The position is strong and this year we are doing well against the targets
Longer term trends
- Ecsite-uk has been steadily building up a reserve.
- There has been increasing activity on projects from £50K in 2003 to £307K in 2006
- It is likely that this will drop back in the coming year as there are currently fewer projects in the pipeline.
- Core is reliant on support from OSI and the Wellcome Trust: we need to ensure that the fundamental organisation at the heart of these networks – Ecsite-uk - can get on-going core support.
6 Elections to the committee
Official Thanks
- Linda noted that she will be stepping down after 6 years on the Committee and 2 years as Chair.
- Gillian Pearson will be stepping down after 6 years on the Committee, and as Deputy Chair. Many thanks particularly on constitutional matters.
- Thank you also to the Treasurer, and to Roland Jackson for hosting Ecsite-uk, and John Gagg for his financial assistance.
- Also thanks to Dr Jenny Search for the project development work on Inside DNA.
- Rachel Simmons who has kept the admin up to date and made all the arrangements for this AGM – Many thanks.
- Martin Glancy for great work on the web site.
- Simon Chambers for his work on SCEAG management.
- And particular thanks Ros and Louise for their excellent work particularly over the past 7 months.
Voting introduction
Ecsite-uk’s statutes specify a Committee composed of:
- The Chair
- 8 -10 members (8 elected and up to 2 more co-opted),
- The Chief Executive of the BA, Roland Jackson
Committee members must be re-elected after a two year term. The following Committee members were elected last year and therefore are not up for re-election.
- Heather Mayfield, Science Museum, London
- Stuart Monro, Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh
- Peter Trevitt (Treasurer), Techniquest, Cardiff
The AGM was presented with nine candidates for election or re-election to five open positions. The candidates were as follows:
- Kelvin Boot, National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth
- Vicky Brightman, Horniman Museum
- Robin Hoyle, Glasgow Science Centre
- Phil Winfield, Intech Science Centre
- Goéry Delacôte, At-Bristol
- Sean Gaffeny, Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester
- Judith Harvey, W5, Belfast
- Ian Simmons, Centre for Life, Newcastle
- Leigh-Anne Stradeski, Eureka! The Children's Museum, Halifax
Ballot papers were distributed and votes (including proxies) cast.
Election Results
The following members were voted onto the committee:
- Kelvin Boot, National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth
- Goéry Delacôte, At-Bristol
- Sean Gaffaney, Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester
- Judith Harvey, W5, Belfast
- Leigh-Anne Stradeski, Eureka! The Children's Museum, Halifax
They join those already on the Committee:
- Heather Mayfield, Science Museum, London
- Stuart Monro, Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh
- Peter Trevitt (Treasurer), Techniquest, Cardiff
- Roland Jackson, the BA
The following member was co-opted by the committee later in the day.
- Phil Winfield, Intech Science Centre, Winchester
The new Chair of Ecsite-uk
The current Chair, Linda Conlon, officially handed over to Dr Nick Winterbotham, CEO of Thinktank, Birmingham to take up his position as the new Chair of Ecsite-uk.
The AGM was followed by a discussion led by Nick Winterbotham, the new Chair.
List of Attendees to the 2007 AGM
Bob Bloomfield, The Natural History Museum
Linda Conlon, Centre for Life
Goéry Delacôte, At-Bristol
Penny Fidler, Ecsite-uk
Alan Fielding, Prodir Ltd
Sean Gaffaney, Museum of Science and Industry
John Gagg, the BA
Judith Harvey, W5
Noel Jackson, Centre for Life
Colin Johnson, Ecsite
David Morgan, Thomas Hardye School
Rosalind Mist, Ecsite-uk
Stuart Monro, Our Dynamic Earth
Gillian Pearson, The Oxford Trust
Kirk Ramsay, Glasgow Science Centre
James Rudoni, The Science of…
Angela Ryde-Weller, INTECH
Ian Simmons, Centre for Life
Leigh-Anne Stradeski, Eureka! The Museum for Children
Alice Taylor-Gee, the BA
Naomi Temple, Royal Institution
Peter Trevitt, Techniquest
Louise Webb, Ecsite-uk
Nick Winterbotham, Thinktank
Ecsite-uk AGM, 13 Sep 2007, list of apologies
Matthew Beck, Magna
Colin Brown, The Deep
Jodie Cole, the BA
Karl Hansen, The Living Rainforest
Robin Hoyle, Glasgow Science Centre
Roland Jackson, the BA
Ben Johnson, Graphic Science
Tom Mason, Armagh Planetarium
Steph Mastoris, National Waterfront Museum
Heather Mayfield, Science Museum
Sally Montgomery, W5
Ian Thomas, National Stone Centre
Janet Vitmaner, Horniman Museum
Philip Winfield, INTECH
Kelvin Boot, National Marine Aquarium
Joanne Ward, Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser
Isabel Bruce, Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser